With January being National Mentoring Month, Tahoe Youth & Family Services is looking for mentors.

Mentoring helps youth and teens because it guarantees that there is someone who cares for them and they are not alone in their day-to-day challenges, according to TY&FS.

The goal is mentors provide mentees with the gift of having an experienced friend to help them through a number of situations.

Students who meet regularly with a mentor are 52 percent less likely to skip a day of school, 46 percent less likely than peers to start using illegal drugs and 27 percent less likely to start drinking, according to a Public/Private Ventures Study of Big Brother’s Big Sisters.

TYFS is accepting ages 4-17 who need a mentor and adults who would like to be mentors. Programs are based in South Lake Tahoe, Markleeville and Minden. In Alpine County, contact Betty Hathaway at (530) 694.9459, betty@tahoeyouth.org; South Lake Tahoe or Douglas County, contact Emily Bennett (530) 694.9459, emily@tahoeyouth.org.